Judge David Ricciardone heard closing statements Thursday from the prosecutor, who argued Guaman was drunk and tried to flee following the August 2011 accident, and the defense attorney, who said his client had no idea he was dragging Denice and couldn't understand the witnesses who were screaming at him to stop.

“This was an unbelievable perfect storm of circumstances,” defense attorney Peter Ettenberg said in Worcester Superior Court. “This was a chaotic, horrifying event and it's reasonable to assume that … Mr. Dutan Guaman was very frightened. What he did was to try and leave that scene … That leaving the scene alone does not equal guilt.”

He argued that his client had no knowledge that he was dragging Denice and that he could not understand, due to a language barrier, the witnesses who were yelling at him to stop.

Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Travers said the evidence clearly shows Guaman knew his actions would have a strong likelihood of causing Denice's death.

“The defendant would say he didn't know he was dragging Matthew as he's compressing him, wearing away his body and blood is flying up the side of the passenger side,” Travers said. “The defendant subjectively knew that Matt was in front of the pickup truck when he chose to drive forward. When Matt screamed, struggled and banged on the truck, he continued. When the police arrived, he'd already committed to running from the scene.”

Guaman, 37, an illegal immigrant from Ecuador, is on trial on a second-degree murder charge, along with charges of manslaughter by motor vehicle and homicide by motor vehicle while intoxicated. The charges stem from the crash that, police say, Guaman was drunk when he struck the 23-year-old Denice, who was on a motorcycle, and dragged him for a quarter of a mile to his death.

After the prosecution rested its case, Ettenberg presented several motions calling for the judge to dismiss the charges of murder and manslaughter by motor vehicle, saying the commonwealth couldn't prove the “intent” required for a murder conviction or “wanton and reckless conduct” required for manslaughter.

Ricciardone, who noted he ruled on the motions following the statute to view them in the “most favorable light for the Commonwealth,” allowed the heaviest charges against Guaman to stand.

“He immediately accelerated – he undertook an intentional act to proceed where a person was at least near the vehicle,” Ricciardone said. “There's a certain degree of disregard of the consequences.”

Ettenberg said that – at best – the commonwealth may have proved motor vehicle homicide, but he also questioned the part of that charge that accuses his client of being drunk.

Page 2 of 2 - “Testimony that he was drunk was totally not reconciled by what was on that video,” said Ettenberg, noting the booking video shown in court of Guaman performing three separate sobriety tests. “If this were not an accident that resulted in a death, this would be a run of the mill driving under the influence case … and the video would be conclusive evidence he was not intoxicated.”

Travers cited the testimony of the two police officers who said Guaman was drunk, the 911 call from Guaman's niece prior to the accident reporting he was driving drunk and the empty and full beer cans located in the truck – one of which had DNA matching Guaman's.

Ricciardone said at the end of court on Thursday that he was planning to deliberate and would deliver his verdict on Monday.

Lindsay Corcoran can be reached at 508-634-7582 or lcorcoran@wickedlocal.com. For Milford news throughout the day, follow her on Twitter @LacorcMDN.